Spying for the exiled King Charles II in Oliver Cromwell's England is no easy task…

Category: Espionage

Review: Invisible Agents: Women and Espionage in Seventeenth-Century Britain by Dr Nadine Akkerman Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ A book on the real-life equivalents of my novel’s Royalist she-spy is Christmas come early. When I saw that even the dedication was written in code, I knew I was in for a treat. In safe hands The Interregnum – […]

Invisible ink is essential for my seventeenth century fictional spies. Some of my lazier agents even write in it uncoded. I thought I’d expand on a Twitter exchange with Civil War Tours who asked for my advice on secret messages. Heating it up All the inks below reveal themselves when you heat the parchment over […]

Disguise is an essential tool in espionage. However I still remember the roar of laughter from fellow cinema goers when Tom Cruise peeled off his latex face in Mission: Really Impossible – No We Mean It This Time. Given I’m writing a book about seventeenth century spies, latex is off the menu. I did find some absolute gems though […]